1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to lacrosse sticks, and more particularly, to a lacrosse stick having a downwardly canted handle and an upwardly canted head.
2. Background of the Invention
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional lacrosse stick 100 having a handle 102 shown in dotted lines and a double-wall synthetic head 104. Head 104 comprises a throat portion 105 and a frame portion 109. Frame portion 109, which is generally V-shaped in this example, comprises a stop member 114, sidewalls 108 and 110 joining stop member 114, and a transverse wall (or “scoop”) 112 joining the sidewalls at their ends opposite stop member 114. As shown, handle 102 connects to throat portion 105 and abuts stop member 114. A screw or other fastener placed through opening 107 secures handle 102 to head 104.
For traditionally-strung pockets (which have thongs and string instead of mesh), thongs (not shown) made of leather or synthetic material extend from upper thong holes 116 in transverse wall 112 to lower thong holes 118 in stop member 114. In some designs, such as the design shown in FIG. 1, upper thong holes 116 are located on tabs 117 of the scoop 112. On other designs, upper thong holes 116 are located directly on the scoop 112. FIG. 1 shows four pairs (116, 118) of thong holes that accept four thongs. To complete the pocket web, the thongs have nylon strings threaded around the thongs and string laced through string holes 120 in sidewalls 108 and 110, forming any number of diamonds (crosslacing). Finally, one or more throwing or shooting strings extend transversely between the upper portions of sidewalls 108 and 110, attaching to throwing string holes 124 and a string laced through string holes 122. The typical features of a lacrosse stick are shown generally in Tucker et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,507,495, Crawford et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,984, and Tucker et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,947, which are all incorporated by reference herein.
As shown in FIG. 1, the traditional means for affixing head 104 to handle or shaft 102 involves sliding shaft 102 into throat portion 105 of head 104 and securing head 104 to shaft 102 with a screw or similar fastener placed in opening 107. In this configuration, the axis of handle 102 and the axis of throat portion 105 are coincidental. In FIG. 1, throat portion 105 provides a female connection (e.g., a socket) that receives shaft 102. Alternatively, in addition to or in place of the female connection, throat portion 105 can provide a male plug that fits within the bore of shaft 102, as is disclosed, for example, in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/630,856, filed Jul. 31, 2003, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
When double-wall synthetic lacrosse heads were first introduced, the early designs featured straight handles and straight heads, when viewed from a side elevation facing a sidewall of the head. In other words, the lacrosse head remained largely in line with the axis of the handle. Since those early designs, however, the trend has been to lower the lacrosse head below the handle axis. Lowering the head can enable better ball control and provide a player with an indication of the orientation of the lacrosse head, which results from the uneven weight distribution relative to the handle axis in directions radial to the handle axis.
Despite these advantages, the lacrosse sticks having lowered heads can also introduce undesirable ball handling characteristics because the ball is positioned a greater distance below the shaft axis and must travel a greater distance to release from the head. Traditionally, designers have lowered heads either by reshaping the handle or by lowering the sidewalls adjacent to the throat portion. In either case, the reconfiguration positions the ball a greater distance from the shaft axis. Compounding this problem, the reconfiguration can cause the ball to come to rest in a rear head position (i.e., more toward the stop member). This rear head position, combined with the greater travel, can create difficulties in releasing the ball from the head, and can therefore hinder a player's ability to execute quick and accurate shots and passing.